Monday, June 28, 2004
When we say 'repudiate' we mean 'agree with and wrote'
"Although the White House repudiated the memo Tuesday as the work of a small group of lawyers at the Justice Department, administration officials now confirm it was vetted by a larger number of officials, including lawyers at the National Security Council, the White House counsel's office and Vice President Cheney's office. . . .
"In addition, Timothy E. Flanigan -- then deputy White House counsel -- discussed a draft of the document with lawyers at the [Justice Department's] Office of Legal Counsel before it was finalized, the officials said. David S. Addington, Cheney's counsel, also weighed in with remarks during at least one meeting he held with Justice lawyers involved with writing the opinion. He was particularly concerned, sources said, that the opinion include a clear-cut section on the president's authority.
"That section of the memo has become among the most controversial within the legal community that has analyzed the opinion since it was made public by The Washington Post."
This was Bush Administration policy. I do not give them any leeway in this. Their intentions were dishonerable and immoral. I would also point out that the Israeli Supreme Court outlawed all use of torture because of the slippery slope issue. I think it's safe to say that the Israeli's face a greater terror challenge than even the US.
The NYTimes points out an interesting tid-bit:
"In repudiating the memo in briefings this week, none of the senior Bush legal advisers whom the White House made available to reporters would discuss who had requested that the memo be prepared, why it had been prepared or how it was applied.
